Water in Art
Professor Chris Witcombe
PASSAGE over WATER
A Sweet Briar College Learning Resource |
Water in Art
Professor Chris Witcombe
PASSAGE over WATER
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Fountains and rivers share the general symbolism of water as the source of life. A river can also symbolize a barrier separating two different realms. In ancient Egypt, the dead pharaoh was carried across the Nile, from east to west, to be buried on the west side of the river. The idea of passage across a river, passing from the side of life to the side of death, is also found in classical belief of the souls of the dead having to be rowed across the river Styx to the underworld by the ferryman Charon.
 (image source: Carol Gerten) Joachim Patinir Charon's Boat, 1515-24
Charon, the "infernal boatman", also appears in Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.
 (image source: Carol Gerten) Michelangelo Charon (detail from the Last Judgement, Sistine Chapel), 1536-41 In Pilgrim's Progress,the river of death is the last obstacle which the pilgrim much cross to reach the heavenly city. In many Christian hymns and spirituals, the dead must cross the Jordan River to attain the next life. The flow of a river from its source to the sea may also signify the flow of life from birth to death. A winding stream is a symbol of the tortuous course of human life. To descend a river can also be understood as symbolic of life's journey down the "River of Life", a notion that the American artist Thomas Cole (1801-1848) pictured in a series of four paintings.
 (image source: National Gallery, Washington DC) Thomas Cole The Voyage of Life: Childhood, 1842
In reverse, to ascend a river to its source is to return to the One, the "Fons et Origo" (the fountain and origin) of all things.
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PURPOSE SCHEDULE REQUIREMENTS PARTICIPANTS
H20 - The Mystery, Art, and Science of Water
Chris Witcombe and Sang Hwang
Sweet Briar College
